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Another Pole for Marquez, Ducati Makes It to First Row with Crutchlow

Marc Marquez showed a good pace in the Qualifying session ahead of the Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island and managed to clinch another pole position. In the third Free Practice outing of the weekend and the last that counted towards the Q1 and Q2 grids, Jorge Lorenzo was again the fastest, with Marquez almost a third of a second adrift, followed by Andrea Iannone, Valentino Rossi and Pol Espargaro.
12th pole for Marc Marquez in 2014 15 photos
Photo: motogp.com
Phillip Island, 2014, front Q2 rowPhillip Island, 2014, Lorenzo looks at the gloomy skyPhillip Island, 2014, Lorenzo getting out on the trackPhillip Island, 2014, first row for CrutchlowPhillip Island, 2014, leaning through a turnPhillip Island, 2014, Andrea DoviziosoPhillip Island, 2014, Pedrosa vs Aleix EspargaroPhillip Island, 2014, Dani Pedrosa talks to his tech crewPhillip Island, 2014, Rossi wheelingPhillip Island, 2014, Marquez uphillPhillip Island, 2014, Marquez checks his back before leaving the Q2 trackPhillip Island, 2014, FP3Phillip Island, 2014, Q1Phillip Island, 2014, Q2
However, in Q2 things changed a bit, as the young 2-time premier class champion lapped 1’28.408 around the Aussie circuit, setting the new best time of the weekend so far. An exceptional surprise came from Ducati’s Cal Crutchlow, who finished Q2 in the second position and managed to secure his first front-row start of the season, 0.234 seconds slower than Marquez.

Jorge Lorenzo put the third manufacturer in the first row, being only 8 thousandths of a second slower than the Englishman. An even smaller gap was between him and the first bike in the second row, as Bradley Smith was 0.006 slower than the Cobra. Dani Pedrosa arrived from Q1 to start the Phillip Island Race from the 5th position, ahead of Aleix Espargaro, again the best Open rider on the grid. Andrea Iannone, Valentino Rossi and Pol Espargaro fill in the third row, with Dovizioso, Bradl and Aoyama (also from Q1) in the last row of Qualifying 2.

Marquez matches Stoner’s pole record in a season

The Phillip Island pole is Marc Marquez’ 12th this season, out of 16 rounds. This puts him on equal terms with local hero and MotoGP Legend Casey Stoner as far as the number of poles in a single season is concerned. However, with two more races remaining, we might very well see Stoner’s 2011 record broken.

While Marquez already has the 2014 World Title in the bag, such records, plus the natural inclination toward winning are still keeping him going, but the big battle is elsewhere. Three races before the end of the 2014 season, we have Rossi and Pedrosa locked in behind Marquez with 230 points each and Lorenzo charging from the 4th position only 3 points adrift the two.

This means we’re in for quite some breathtaking cutthroat action in the remaining race weekends. That is Sepang next week, the last of the overseas triple header and the final showdown in Valencia on November 9.
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